1. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008 Data-Driven Decisions and School Leadership: Best Practices for School Improvement Theodore J. Kowalski Thomas J. Lasley II James W. Mahoney This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law: Any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network; Preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images; Any rental, lease, or lending of the program.

2. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008 Chapter 8: Technology and Information Management

3. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008 Prevailing problems Lack of technology literacy Lack of information literacy Aversion to using statistics Socialization to intuitive decision making Loose coupling between technology and assessment/evaluation Lack of district and school policy leadership

4. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008 Technology literacy Knowledge/skills about computers Ability to apply knowledge/skills Common competencies – Internet usage – Modify a Web page – Construct personal database (e.g., spreadsheet) – Access and use databases

5. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008 Information literacy Ability to frame problems (or questions), make connections between information and decisions, and shape decisions using evidence Competencies – Frame the problem/question – Identify/access/evaluate pertinent data – Integrate new data into databases – Critically evaluate decisions using data

6. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008 Information technology (IT) Hardware and software Critical characteristics – Construct real time data representations in multiple formats – Distributed access to appropriate data and analytical tools – Automated guidance

7. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008 Management information system (MIS) System for planning, developing, and using information technology Purposes – Acquiring new data – Accessing stored data – Selectively organizing data to facilitate problems/decisions

8. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008 Attributes of an effective MIS Timely AccessibleUsable Multidirectional

9. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008 Database management information system (DMIS) An MIS for databases Purposes – Mechanism for entering data into databases – Mechanism for accessing data from databases – Make content of databases practical

10. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008 Sources of evidence (data, information) Generic evidence developed from research, theory Specific facts relevant to personal practice, e.g., student data

11. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008 Databases Should be relational (two dimensional tables) Composed of – Entities – Entity sets – Attributes Desired characteristics – Appropriate data views – Data manipulation system – Report generator

12. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008 Data security Accuracy protection (against misuse, alterations, or deletions) Information protection (against unwarranted, illegal access) Key characteristics of security system – Transparency – Accessibility

13. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008 Data warehouse Computer storage area that – Accumulates data – Integrates data – Keeps data Desired attributes – Ability to store multiple databases – Cleansing mechanism – Uniform data format – Single information source for multiple databases – Comprehensive data analysis/reporting capability

14. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008 Data mining Identifying previously undiscovered data relationships Either pattern or content relationships Desirable characteristics – Affordable – Functional (meets user needs) – Ability to generate reports and data subsets